Roofing tile making machines



Feb. 14, 1956 M. c. WILLIS ROOFING TILE MAKING MACHINES Filed 'April 26,1951 3 Sheets-Sheet l JNVEM TOR Feb. 14, 1956 M. c. wlLLls ROOFING TILEMAKING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 26, 1.951

INVENTOR mm, a @644;

Feb; 14, 1956 Filed April 26, 1951 ROOFING TILE MAKING MACHINES 3Sheets-Sheet 3 INVE/V 7'0R United States Patent ROOFING TILE MAKINGMACHINES Marlen C. Willis, Phoenix, Ariz.

Application April 26, 1951, Serial No. 223,088

3 Claims. (Cl. 25- 43) This invention pertains to roofing tile makingmachines, and is particularly adapted to the manufacture of flat tileknown to the art as French tile.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a machine of sturdyand fool-proof construction which will produce tile in quantity with aminimum of attention from the operators;

Another object is to provide a tile making machine which has a minimumnumber of working parts arranged so that it is unlikely to get out ofadjustment, and so that wear and replacement of parts is much less thanin machines heretofore known to the art;

Another object is to provide a machine wherein cement mix, having theconsistency of plaster mortar, is used and wherein the cement is evenlyand rapidly spread over the surface of forming and handling palletswithout waste or the necessity of introducing fluid cement mix into thefeed hopper;

Another object is to provide a machine in which the parts are easilydemountable for cleaning or storage;

Still another object is to provide a machine having means to enable theuser to quickly and easily change the form and style of the tileproduced without the use of special tools.

I attain the foregoing objects by means of the device, structure, andcombination of parts shown in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure1 is a side elevation of a tile making machine embodying myimprovements;

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof;

Figure 3 is a sectional view, taken on line 33, Figure 2, of the feedhopper and tile forming portion of the mechanism of the machine drawn onan enlarged scale;

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the feed hopper and tile formingmechanism taken from 'line 44 Figure l and drawn on an enlarged scale; s

Figure 5 is a perspective view of tile made on a machine incorporatingmy improvements;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the pallets used in my machine;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the trowel;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of one of the pallet boxes; and Figure 9is a sectional elevation of the pallet lifting mechanism.

Similar numerals refer 'to similar parts in the several views.

Referring to the drawings, numeral 2 indicates the frame-of the machinegenerally. Thisispreferably made of metal tubing, however, anyequivalent structural mate- Parallel to top members 4 are right and leftpalletbox 7 ing edgeof an adjacent tile.

ice

plates 10 from which supporting brackets 12 extend laterally, and endplates 14 and 15 which converge slightly, downward.

The lower edges of the side and end plates terminate just above theupper edges of pallet boxes 8, which move beneath the hopperlongitudinally while supported on slides 5.

Each of the pallet boxes 8 is formed as a rectangular frame composed ofside plates 20, end plates 22, and a mid-positioned transverse plate 21which divides the box into forward and aft sections. Pallets 16 fit intothe upper portion of each of the pallet box sections and rest on theheads of cap screws 24 which screw into inwardly extending lugs 23.These screws provide accurate and adjustable means for leveling thepallets within these boxes. within the boxes 8 so that their upper facesare alined and leveled with the upper edges of the end plates 22, andthese end plate edges are contoured transversely to coincide with thetransverse contour of the upper faces of the pallets the sides of thepallets may be leveled so that the edges of their top faces are in thesame plane as that of the edges of the side plates 20 of the palletboxes. The pallet boxes may also serve in part as molds along one of thepallet edges depending on the shape of the tile which usually must allowside overlap; that is, one edge of the tile is raised to overlap theadjoin- The upper edges of end plates of the pallet boxes are in thesame substantially horizontal plane as the upper faces of correspondingparts of the pallets when they are positioned on the bolts 24 within thepallet boxes. The side plates 11') of the hopper 9 may form one sideedge of the tile and the pallet box may form the other side edge. Theirends are formed when the pallets are lifted by mechanism 70 as hereindescribed.

A lug 27 is welded to the bottom edge of each of the mid-positionedplates 21 and is drilled transversely to provide hinged attachmenttolink blocks 28 of pallet box operating chain 30. This chainconstitutes a closed loop and runs longitudinally of frame 2 with thetop lay between. slides 5. Pallet boxes 8 are attached to chain 30throughout its length so that their ends abut. At the ends of frame 2the chain runs over sprockets 32 and 33, respectively. The bottom lay ofthe chain runs under slides 5. An idler sprocket 35 contacts the centerof this bottom lay of the chain and keeps it in proper position andtension. Idler sprocket 35 is directly journalled on shaft 45. Sprocket33 is keyed to transverse shaft 43. Transverse shaft 42 on whichsprocket 32 is keyed is journalled in bearings 41 in frame 2. Thesebearings maybe adjusted longitudinally in the frame in order to provideadditional means for maintaining proper tension on the chain. This shaftis driven through suitable speed reduction mechanism 45 by motor 46 sothat the boxes 7 on chain 39 pass along the top of frame 2 on slides 5at a speed of about six feet per minute. Sprocket 32 is proportioned toimpart this speed to chain 30 when shaft 42 isrotated approximately 18revolutions per minute.

At the opposite end of the frame shaft 42 carries and drives a pinion47A which meshes with pinion 47 journalled on a short shaft 48 on frame2. A large sprocket 49 is attached to pinion 47 so that it turns withthe pinion. This sprocket rotates counterclockwise (Figure 1) and isknown as the spreading paddle drive sprocket.

A trowel 60 supported on holding plate 61 is clamped between side plates10 of hopper 9 at the outgoing end by clamp bolt 64. This is the rightend as viewed in Figures 1 and 2 and should be understood to be the endwherethe pallets leave, or move from under the hopper.

The pallets are positioned and leveled Within hopper 9 there are twomortar spreading paddle wheels 50 and 51. These wheels are supported onshafts 52 and 53, respectively, which are connected and turn together bychain 54 running on sprockets 55 of these shafts. Shaft 52 extendsfurther outward than shaft 53 and is driven from large sprocket 49 bychain 56 running over sprocket 57. Sprocket 57 is proportioned so thatshafts 52 and 53 turn approximately 76 revolutions per minute. Thesepaddle wheels turn in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure3. Wheel 50 is positioned to turn just within, or next to, trowel allwhile wheel 51 is positioned more toward the longitudinal center of thehopper and also near its bottom.

The action of the forward paddle wheel 50 is to churn the cement mortarmix and force it downward toward the pallet passing under the hopper andforward toward the lower edge of the vertical plate 61 of the trowel 60.This crowds the mortar toward the horizontal portion of the trowel aswell as onto the pallet and causes it to adequately fill the contours ofthe pallet and to pack firmly under the trowel.

The action of the paddle wheel 51 is to move the mortar from the centerof the hopper and force it downward onto the pallet as soon as it entersthe space under the hopper. The action of both wheels tends to keep themortar in the bottom of the hopper in motion, keeps it from packing, orbridging over in the upper part of the hopper, and insures adequatelateral distribution of the mortar so that the edges of the pallet areadequately supplied with mortar. These paddle wheels make it possible toproduce fully formed tile on the pallets rapidly as they pass under thehopper even if the mortar is quite stiff.

The trowel is indicated generally by numeral 60 of the formed surface62, which extends at substantially right angles to the plate 61. Thissurface trowels the upper surface of the mortar which deposits on eachpallet 16, and forms the upper face of each tile. The under surface ineach case is formed by the pallet face. There are recesses 63 providedat an end of each pallet to provide longitudinal retention for eachtile, as it is formed, and for retaining the tile on a roof when laid.

The exact cross sectional shape of the pallets, trowel, and formed tileis immaterial to this invention. However, as here illustrated, the tile65 produced between the pallet and trowel has several flatlongitudinally extending ridges 66, and several edge grooves 67, as wellas lugs 63a on its under side. The body of the tile should be from A to/2 an inch thick, therefore the troweling surface 62 is substantially to/2 inch above the top faces of the pallets as they are carried by boxes8 under hopper 9.

After the pallets 16 pass under the hopper 9 and receive a deposit ofcement mortar which is formed into a tile 65, they are eachautomatically lifted from their respective pallet boxes 8 by a liftingmechanism indicated generally by numeral 70 shown particularly in Figure9. This mechanism consists of a group of four lifting fingers 72 whichwork vertically in holes in a guide block 73 supported between thelongitudinal members 4 of frame 2. These fingers are joined together atthe bottom by frame plate 74 which is moved upward to lifting positionby link and lever mechanism. The link 75 connects L-shaped lifting lever76 to operating lever 77. A roller 80 at the top end of lever 77contacts the rear end member and middle transverse plate 21 of eachpallet box 8 as it moves from left to right. The contact moves the leverfrom the position indicated by dotted outline 82 to the position shownby the solid lines. This pushes link 75 to the left (toward the hopper)and L-shaped lever 76 raises frame plate 74 to which it is looselyhinged. This pushes fingers 72 upward and they, in turn, lift any pallet16 which is over them. After the transverse frame member which tripslever 77 passes over roller 80, it drops back to position 82 by reasonof the urge of spring 83. To keep the side portion of the boxes whichcontact roller from raising, two rollers 85 attached to frame guidemember 5 bear on the upper edges of pallet boxes as they pass over thecontact area.

From the foregoing it will be seen that pallet boxes 8 follow each othersuccessively along the slideway provided by guides 5. The pallets 16 areplaced in the tops of the boxes on the left portion of the slide andbefore the boxes move beneath the hopper 9. The succession of palletsform in effect the bottom of the hopper. The end plate at the left endof hopper 9 may be known as the hopper entrance end plate, the plate atthe opposite end, as the hopper leaving end plate. The side plates 10are positioned over the side edges of the pallet box as they movebeneath them with only a slight clearance. The bottom edge of theentrance end plate is positioned over the pallet boxes so as to allowonly a small clearance. This arrangement prevents leakage of mortar fromthe hopper, and at the same time prevents wear incident to actuallyrubbing of adjoining surfaces. Cement mortar is supplied to the hopperso that the paddle wheels 50 and 51 are well covered at all times duringoperation. The agitation provided by these wheels spreads the mortar aspreviously described in detail so that the upper face of each pallet iscovered evenly with mortar as it passes beneath the hopper. The trowellower face 62 screeds off the excess mortar from each pallet todetermine the tile thickness and forms and shapes the upper surface ofeach tile.

After the pallets pass beneath the hopper, and are charged with mortarto form a tile they pass over fingers 72 of the pallet lifting mechanism79. This mechanism lifts each pallet momentarily and enables theoperator of the machine to easily grasp it and remove it to a dryingrack. The speed of movement of pallet boxes 8 by chain 30 is such thatthe operators of the machine have time to place pallets in the palletboxes, and time to remove the pallets charged with tile mortar as theoperation continues. Time necessary for the mortar to flow onto eachpallet is, also, taken into consideration. After the tile have dried andhardened on the pallets they are removed, and the pallets are cleaned,oiled and made ready for use again.

It is to be observed that the structure of the tile boxes enables thepallets to be accurately adjusted as to height with reference to thepallet boxes and to be accurately leveled; also, the side plates 10 ofthe hopper provide lateral surfaces against which the edges of the tileare formed. The end edges of the tile are cleanly formed by shearingwhen fingers 72 thrust each pallet upward relative to the palletfollowing it.

While the machine is not large and is comparatively simple both instructure and operation, its capacity when run continuously is,nevertheless, large, and many thousand tile may be made in a day.

I claim:

1. In a tile making machine having a frame, a pallet slideway, anendless chain and driving means therefor in said frame, pallet boxesmounted on said slideway, said pallet boxes having end and intermediatetransverse members, said intermediate transverse members attached tosaid chain, pallets in said pallet boxes, and mechanism for continuouslylifting successive pallets from their boxes, said mechanism comprisinglifting fingers vertically movable beneath said slideway and disposed onsaid frame to move directly upward and engage the bottom of a pallet, aplate attached to the bottom end of said fingers, a lever pivoted onsaid plate and on said frame, an operating lever pivoted to said framebeneath said slideway having a roller at its upper end successivelyengaging said transverse members of said pallet boxes, and a linkconnecting the lower end of said operating lever to said plate liftinglever, whereby contact of the roller on the operating arm will cause acorresponding movement of the plate and fingers.

2. A device as set forth i1 claim 1, having means to prevent upwardmovement of said pallet boxes as said pallets are lifted, said meanscomprising arms having rollers at their upper ends and attached to thesides of the frame at their lower ends, said rollers riding on the topedges of said pallet boxes.

3. Pallet removing means for tile making machines of the type having aframe, a pallet box slideway on said frame and pallet boxes slidingalong said slideway, said pallet removing means comprising liftingfingers slidably mounted beneath said slideway and disposed on saidframe to pusn directly upward and engage the bottom of a pallet, a plateattached to the bottom ends of said fingers, a lever supported on saidframe and communicating lifting movement to said plate, an operatinglever pivoted to said frame beneath said slideway having a roller at itsupper end adapted to engage transverse portions of said pallet boxes toattain movement therefrom, and a link connecting the lower end of saidoperating lever to said plate lifting lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSHoffman Oct. 28, Warner Mar. 21, Saffert July 15, Debay Aug. 18, DraegerJuly 14, Woesner Nov. 12, Brousseau et a1. Jan. 14, Carlisle Jan. 4,Wellnitz Jan. 20, Hume June 1, Tedrow Dec. 11, Phillips et a1 July 26,Malvincini Mar. 21, Danhof Sept. 25,

FOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland of

